Purposing Federation Ships During the Dominion War

I want to discuss what you my fellow board mates think the Federation ships employed the Dominion War purposes were and where they would've been stationed tactically in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

From DS9 we know Galaxy, Defiant, Excelsior and Miranda class ships were used in Dominion campaigns.

From VOY we know Akira, and Prometheus class ships were used.

Intrepid and Sovereign class ships were relatively new and in service during the Dominion struggle but neither show displayed them being used in the conflict. We can assume they were fighting though, since Miranda and Excelsior class were both century old models and dozens were seen in the DS9 campaigns.

With these being the canon resources of Star Fleet at the time. Where would you deploy them?

For instance I can imagine Sovereign Class ships being deployed to defend the Federation founding worlds Earth, Vulcan, Andoria etc.

Defiant class are escort ships. We saw Sisko and crew with their's. There were 2 accompanying a Akira class in the episode VOY Message in a Bottle. Last but not least a Defiant class used for training cadets in the episode DS9 Valiant. I imagine they were divided throughout the Quadrant, since they were so small you could create one in a short time. Hell even the rag tag crew in the mirror universe put one together.

I would have used the Sovereigns, due to their speed and power, for hit and run missions. There were also so few of them, they could have also be clustered together to draw the Dominions attention away and open up a station or planet for attack by other forces.

Intrepids were fast and powerful too. They may also have done hit and runs with the Sovereigns or been used as quick responders and border patrol.

The Galaxy class ships would most likely be fleet command ships, front line with a few of their fleets defending key worlds. Planets furthest away from fighting would be relatively unprotected.

Akiras, and the other new or newish ships would be front line combat ships accompanied by the Excelesiors and Miranda class ships.

Interestingly, when Starfleet wanted to engage and recover the superfast prototype, it sent a Nebula, which plausibly is among the faster types (because it looks like the Galaxy which turn is credited with high speed) - but then followed up with an Akira, for which relative propulsive performance is not know, and two Defiants, which are famed for their exceptional slowness and propulsive problems. It looks more like a case of "send whatever we have" than "tailor a force to match the mission".

It's probably that way for every fleet action... Quite possibly every single phaser emitter you can bring to bear will contribute to your success, even if some of your ships can't keep up or can't take the pounding. And if the enemy thinks likewise, then some of his ships will be inferior units, too, and yours can be pitted against them if the opportunity for "optimizing of force allocation" briefly arises.

and two Defiants, which are famed for their exceptional slowness and propulsive problems.

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I don't remember it ever being stated on screen that the Defiant was slow. The propulsion problems had nothing to do with speed, but with the engines being way to powerfull for the spaceframe.

Think of it as shoving a LS6 V8, twincharged and producing close to a 1000bhp...... in a standard Volkswagen Beetle. The older type. The amount of torque from that engine would twist the chassis of that poor little Volkswagen.

In "The Sound of Her Voice", the Defiant struggled to increase speed past warp 9.0, hitting structural limits that never bothered the other hero ships at those speeds yet. That seems to match the "too powerful engines threatened to tear the ship apart" thing that Sisko talked about in the introductory episode for the DS9 hero ship.

Otherwise, DS9 tended to speak of "maximum warp" rather than specific warp factors, but the writers did appear to hold on to the concept of there being something fishy about the propulsion system till the bitter end.

In "The Sound of Her Voice", the Defiant struggled to increase speed past warp 9.0, hitting structural limits that never bothered the other hero ships at those speeds yet. That seems to match the "too powerful engines threatened to tear the ship apart" thing that Sisko talked about in the introductory episode for the DS9 hero ship.

Otherwise, DS9 tended to speak of "maximum warp" rather than specific warp factors, but the writers did appear to hold on to the concept of there being something fishy about the propulsion system till the bitter end.

The Intrepid Class was the Fastest and the most advanced ship,if they deployed it along the Sovereign the war would have been over a lot faster :P.

In First Contact,the Enterprise-E displayed amazing firepower something not rivaled by any other ship,and was also referenced as the most advanced Starship in the Fleet.

In many episodes,to name some ''Flesh and blood'',''Void'',''Dark Frontier'',''Dragons Teeth''...Voyager was seen firing 3 phaser arrays at the same time,Firing 6 torpedoes in 1.5 sec from the fwrd launchers,moving around at speeds of at least 5 times the Galaxy Class...Voyager made circles around a massive Borg tactical Cube many times.

A Fleet of 5 Defiants (for Damage) 3 Intrepids (for Dmg and support) 2 Sovereigns (for fleet command and Tanking) would defeat a far larger fleet with relative ease...considering that both of Voyager and Ent-E had the most durable shields of all the ships of the franchise.

...But whether she had any respectable firepower, we don't really know. Her phaser beams may have been wimpy, kickass, or anything in between, as we only know their rate of fire and nothing else.

In First Contact,the Enterprise-E displayed amazing firepower something not rivaled by any other ship

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How so? After Picard gave inside information on where and when to fire, every ship type seemed to contribute more or less equally. The Akira pumped out more torpedo fire, the Norway fired longer phaser pulses, and so on.

And being "advanced" is just another name for being "untested"...

Voyager made circles around a massive Borg tactical Cube many times.

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But to no avail, because there isn't a backside to a Borg Cube.

In general, maneuvering doesn't appear to make much of a difference in Trek fights.

both of Voyager and Ent-E had the most durable shields of all the ships of the franchise

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What was durable about the shields of the E-E? They went down in battle fairly quickly in ST:NEM, doing no better than their Romulan counterparts. They played no role in ST:INS, as the Briar Patch negated shields for all the fighting sides. And in ST:FC, they deflected a single Borg attempt at locking a tractor beam. None of that appears particularly impressive, in comparison with, say, the shields of Kirk's TOS ship, or those of a runabout.

...Now, a fleet of runabouts would probably defeat anything, if the durability of those things against the worst the Dominion can muster in "The Die is Cast" or "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" is any indication!

...But whether she had any respectable firepower, we don't really know. Her phaser beams may have been wimpy, kickass, or anything in between, as we only know their rate of fire and nothing else.

In First Contact,the Enterprise-E displayed amazing firepower something not rivaled by any other ship

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How so? After Picard gave inside information on where and when to fire, every ship type seemed to contribute more or less equally. The Akira pumped out more torpedo fire, the Norway fired longer phaser pulses, and so on.

And being "advanced" is just another name for being "untested"...

Voyager made circles around a massive Borg tactical Cube many times.

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But to no avail, because there isn't a backside to a Borg Cube.

In general, maneuvering doesn't appear to make much of a difference in Trek fights.

both of Voyager and Ent-E had the most durable shields of all the ships of the franchise

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What was durable about the shields of the E-E? They went down in battle fairly quickly in ST:NEM, doing no better than their Romulan counterparts. They played no role in ST:INS, as the Briar Patch negated shields for all the fighting sides. And in ST:FC, they deflected a single Borg attempt at locking a tractor beam. None of that appears particularly impressive, in comparison with, say, the shields of Kirk's TOS ship, or those of a runabout.

...Now, a fleet of runabouts would probably defeat anything, if the durability of those things against the worst the Dominion can muster in "The Die is Cast" or "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" is any indication!

Timo Saloniemi

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There is no reference on any series or comparison of how powerful a phaser beam is or even its yield...Phaser are determined by the model creators,like Rick Sternbach who said that the Galaxy and Intrepid have mark 10 phasers(something very poweful).
so having the ability to fire many arrays at the same time is clearly a sign of power compared to the Akira who has just 2 or 3 phaser arrays or the Norway and Sabre.

The Akira did not do anything special it fired a respectable spread of 4 photon torpedoes that is it,the Sovereign and the Intrepid can Fire a lot more as seen on screen.

Speed does influence the balance of the battle,the Uss Defiant survived against a relatively stronger overall vessel like the Neg'hvar or Dominion warships thanks to its speed.

The Ent-E suffered large amount of beating at the hands of the Scimitar and its shields were durable,just count how many torpedoes and disruptor blast the shields survived that was impressive the same for Voyager against relatively stronger vessels.
i also want to add that the Intrepid has multi-spectrum shielding stated in season 6 of Voyager and multi-phasic as well stated in season 2,that type of shielding greatly improved performance in battles.

so having the ability to fire many arrays at the same time is clearly a sign of power

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Naah. All beams are not created equal, or a Danube class runabout (with something like half a dozen confirmed and half a dozen suspected phaser emitters) would seriously outgun an Akira (with indeed just three known strips).

The Voyager is a small ship, so odds are that her phasers are also small...

the Uss Defiant survived against a relatively stronger overall vessel like the Neg'hvar or Dominion warships thanks to its speed.

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...Which was established to be less than that of other Starfleet vessels!

The Defiant didn't really get hit less than other ship types. She just shrugged off the hits when they fell.

The Ent-E suffered large amount of beating at the hands of the Scimitar and its shields were durable,just count how many torpedoes and disruptor blast the shields survived that was impressive

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Compared to what? Kirk's old ship was basically immune to a similar rate of fire in "Errand of Mercy". Picard's first Enterprise had her shields fall down to X percent often enough, but basically never had them collapse altogether piecemeal the way the bow and then the ventral shields of the E-E did.

the same for Voyager against relatively stronger vessels.

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The Voyager operated against a different set of vessels from any other Starfleet combatant, so comparisons are basically impossible to make.

i also want to add that the Intrepid has multi-spectrum shielding stated in season 6 of Voyager and multi-phasic as well stated in season 2,that type of shielding greatly improved performance in battles.

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In what observable way? And what makes you think any old Miranda would not have the exact same sort of shielding?

so having the ability to fire many arrays at the same time is clearly a sign of power

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Naah. All beams are not created equal, or a Danube class runabout (with something like half a dozen confirmed and half a dozen suspected phaser emitters) would seriously outgun an Akira (with indeed just three known strips).

The Voyager is a small ship, so odds are that her phasers are also small...

the Uss Defiant survived against a relatively stronger overall vessel like the Neg'hvar or Dominion warships thanks to its speed.

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...Which was established to be less than that of other Starfleet vessels!

The Defiant didn't really get hit less than other ship types. She just shrugged off the hits when they fell.

Compared to what? Kirk's old ship was basically immune to a similar rate of fire in "Errand of Mercy". Picard's first Enterprise had her shields fall down to X percent often enough, but basically never had them collapse altogether piecemeal the way the bow and then the ventral shields of the E-E did.

the same for Voyager against relatively stronger vessels.

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The Voyager operated against a different set of vessels from any other Starfleet combatant, so comparisons are basically impossible to make.

i also want to add that the Intrepid has multi-spectrum shielding stated in season 6 of Voyager and multi-phasic as well stated in season 2,that type of shielding greatly improved performance in battles.

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In what observable way? And what makes you think any old Miranda would not have the exact same sort of shielding?

Timo Saloniemi

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I noticed you criticise and refuse the information without giving anything else in return.

Are you implying that a Miranda Class or a Constitution has the same Shields as the Intrepid or Sovereign?!!

ok lets compare the same situations with different type of ships, the older Miranda,Excelsior,Ambassador battled a Borg cube at Wolf 359 and were all destroyed and the cube suffered some damage,their inferior technology was not enough.

In the battle of sector 01 the newer more advanced ships like the Akira,Sovereign etc...were able to hold the line and the Borg cube was extremely damaged even before Picard interfered. The technologically more advanced vessels have better shields and weapons allowing some of them to survive the assault.

don't tell me they have the same shields or tactical power.

The Defiant did avoid most hits it did not shrug anything off,Defensively it an inferior vessel then the Galaxy Intrepid Sovereign Akira. but firepower wise it is extremely powerful superior to some others.

Or upgradeable to do the same. For that matter, even if both Galaxy and Intrepid have Type X phasers, capable of outputting X terawatts (or whatever) of power, who's to say the Intrepid has that kind of juice to dump into the phasers anyway? The Galaxy may have more raw power to use for phasers or shields or whatever. Same speakers in the system, more juice in the bigger D batteries, if you'll pardon the pun.

Maneuverability also plays a role. The Defiant and Intrepid classes seemed to be much more maneuverable than the big Galaxy and Sovereign classes. Their shields could have been less powerful, counting on them being able to dodge and weave, allowing more power to dumped into the phaser arrays. The Sovereign class 1701E, in battle with the Scimitar, also suffered a large physical blow from a chunk of the Romulan ship which was blown away. Geordi had to restore the shielding to the bow to help keep the 1701E in the battle. In my opinion, in the interest of speed he diverted power from the other shields, to even out the shield power (They never really knew exactly which direction the Scimitar would fire at them from) to protect the ship. That allowed the Scimitar to open a hole in the shields so the Reman strike team could beam aboard.

As for phasers I think Yesterdays Enterprise put it best:

Castillo: What's a TKL?
Tasha: Standard rations. Food replicators are on minimum power, so everything else is diverted to defensive systems. So where was I?

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A ships power output could be shunted over to shield and weapons allowing for the ship to have reserve power for weapons and shields. Ships like the Intrepids could have Type X phasers and put out full power because other ships systems were at minimum power. Voyager, for example, rarely used its replicators for their main purpose, feeding the crew, opting for a Galley to save power. During the war the Galaxy class were most likely only using Starfleet and specialist as crew leaving families back on their home worlds or space stations. This could have allowed entire decks to be shut down, or partially shut down using bulkheads instead of force fields to cut off those sections which would also save on power. This too would allow the phasers and shields to have more reserve power.

Cutting power to unused decks or, lowering output to some ships systems would allow the ships to keep phasers and shields at full output longer than what we saw the 1701D do.

Or upgradeable to do the same. For that matter, even if both Galaxy and Intrepid have Type X phasers, capable of outputting X terawatts (or whatever) of power, who's to say the Intrepid has that kind of juice to dump into the phasers anyway? The Galaxy may have more raw power to use for phasers or shields or whatever. Same speakers in the system, more juice in the bigger D batteries, if you'll pardon the pun.

Mark

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hehe,but the Intrepid has a mark 9 warpcore that allows it to achieve a speed of 9.975 impossible to for the Galaxy to reach,if you remember warp 9.6 was max speed 9.8 could destroy the ship,i highly sought a ship with slower main propulsion has more power.

In addition the Galaxy Class was less military,stated by the producers themselves on a youtube video i have seen,they also said that the Intrepid was more combat oriented.
another thing to think about is that the Galaxy class has civilians families,schools,18 holodecks,large Saloons,Lecture halls,many Gyms etc...all of these cost a lot of power...

Or upgradeable to do the same. For that matter, even if both Galaxy and Intrepid have Type X phasers, capable of outputting X terawatts (or whatever) of power, who's to say the Intrepid has that kind of juice to dump into the phasers anyway? The Galaxy may have more raw power to use for phasers or shields or whatever. Same speakers in the system, more juice in the bigger D batteries, if you'll pardon the pun.

Mark

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hehe,but the Intrepid has a mark 9 warpcore that allows it to achieve a speed of 9.975 impossible to for the Galaxy to reach,if you remember warp 9.6 was max speed 9.8 could destroy the ship,i highly sought a ship with slower main propulsion has more power.

In addition the Galaxy Class was less military,stated by the producers themselves on a youtube video i have seen,they also said that the Intrepid was more combat oriented.
another thing to think about is that the Galaxy class has civilians families,schools,18 holodecks,large Saloons,Lecture halls,many Gyms etc...all of these cost a lot of power...

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And during war, the families would be removed from the ship.
Unused space could be closed off, and powered off, meaning the number of different recreational facilities would be cut down.
Some systems put to minimal power meaning some holodecks holodecks shut down, the ones still open used for training.
Less people on board would mean less power used by the replicators, or a return to a galley system.
Less people also opens up space that can be used for extra power cells, more power connections to phasers, extra shield generators, all things that can be left in an un-powered, non habitable space onboard the ship. The 1701D seemed quite capable of return a cargo bay back into a habitable space within seconds during Disaster, and the ship was damaged. So I see no reason why large portions of the ship could be turned off, then reactivated when access to those areas is essential.
The power saved could then be reallocated to weapons and shields.

Or upgradeable to do the same. For that matter, even if both Galaxy and Intrepid have Type X phasers, capable of outputting X terawatts (or whatever) of power, who's to say the Intrepid has that kind of juice to dump into the phasers anyway? The Galaxy may have more raw power to use for phasers or shields or whatever. Same speakers in the system, more juice in the bigger D batteries, if you'll pardon the pun.

Mark

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hehe,but the Intrepid has a mark 9 warpcore that allows it to achieve a speed of 9.975 impossible to for the Galaxy to reach,if you remember warp 9.6 was max speed 9.8 could destroy the ship,i highly sought a ship with slower main propulsion has more power.

In addition the Galaxy Class was less military,stated by the producers themselves on a youtube video i have seen,they also said that the Intrepid was more combat oriented.
another thing to think about is that the Galaxy class has civilians families,schools,18 holodecks,large Saloons,Lecture halls,many Gyms etc...all of these cost a lot of power...

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And during war, the families would be removed from the ship.
Unused space could be closed off, and powered off, meaning the number of different recreational facilities would be cut down.
Some systems put to minimal power meaning some holodecks holodecks shut down, the ones still open used for training.
Less people on board would mean less power used by the replicators, or a return to a galley system.
Less people also opens up space that can be used for extra power cells, more power connections to phasers, extra shield generators, all things that can be left in an un-powered, non habitable space onboard the ship. The 1701D seemed quite capable of return a cargo bay back into a habitable space within seconds during Disaster, and the ship was damaged. So I see no reason why large portions of the ship could be turned off, then reactivated when access to those areas is essential.
The power saved could then be reallocated to weapons and shields.

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Oh i never thought about that...good thinking.
maybe thats why the only ship that was not getting blown up in the Dominion war was the Galaxy